One case of tuberculosis confirmed at Liberty High School

(Liberty High School)

One case of tuberculosis confirmed at Liberty High School

LAS VEGAS — There has been one active case of tuberculosis at Liberty High School although authorities have not released if the person infected is a student or faculty member.

According to the CCSD, they were notified by the Southern Nevada Health District and have informed parents on March 28, that there has been one case of tuberculosis confirmed at Liberty High School.

Tuberculosis is highly contagious and both the health district and the school district are working toward identifying those that had close contact with the infected person since more testing will be needed.

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The school district has said there will be no charge for the tests.

Last month the health district confirmed that 14 Coronado High School students had tested positive for latent tuberculosis stemming from an infected student that infected others at the school in November and over 300 students were tested.

Since the case confirmed at Liberty High School is an active case of pulmonary tuberculosis it is likely that the majority, if not all, of the student body and faculty, as well as people they had close contact with will be tested since it is very contagious.

According to 2009 data available from the CDC, 60% of TB cases in the United States occurred in foreign-born individuals.

The majority of U.S. cases among foreign-born individuals are in people  from Mexico, Philippines, Vietnam, India, China,Haiti, and Guatemala.

Pulmonary tuberculosis can be contracted by breathing in air droplets from a cough or sneeze of an infected person. The contagious bacterial infection involves the lungs and can spread to other organs.

It can also lie dormant for years so the outbreak should be a huge concern to parents and to the community.

According to the Southern Nevada Health district the majority of people who breathe in TB bacteria and become infected are able to fight the bacteria to stop them from growing. The bacteria become inactive, but they remain alive in the body and can become active later resulting in a latent TB infection which can cause serious health problems, especially for individuals with a weakened immune system.

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